Thai Shares May Snap Losing Streak

(RTTNews) - The Thai stock market has moved lower in consecutive trading days, slumping more than 10 points or 0.7 percent along the way. The Stock Exchange of Thailand now rests just above the 1,320-point plateau although it may stop the bleeding on Wednesday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is upbeat on solid earnings news and interest rate optimism. The European markets were down and the U.S. bourses were up and the Asian markets figure to follow the latter lead.

The SET finished modestly lower on Tuesday following losses from the consumption, industrial, property, resource and service sectors, while the technology and financial stocks offered support.

For the day, the index sank 6.12 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 1,321.31 after trading between 1,320.08 and 1,330.84. Volume was 9.946 billion shares worth 36.070 billion baht. There were 351 decliners and 156 gainers, with 153 stocks finishing unchanged.

Among the actives, Advanced Info slumped 1.35 percent, while Thailand Airport sank 0.85 percent, Asset World added 0.52 percent, Banpu tumbled 1.87 percent, Bangkok Bank rallied 2.63 percent, B. Grimm gained 0.45 percent, BTS Group crashed 5.07 percent, CP All Public dipped 0.44 percent, Charoen Pokphand Foods fell 0.41 percent, Energy Absolute plummeted 30.15 percent, Gulf skidded 1.17 percent, Kasikornbank advanced 0.80 percent, Krung Thai Bank shed 0.57 percent, Krung Thai Card strengthened 1.29 percent, PTT Oil & Retail increased 0.62 percent, PTT tanked 2.29 percent, PTT Exploration and Production plunged 2.34 percent, PTT Global Chemical retreated 1.69 percent, SCG Packaging improved 0.83 percent, Siam Commercial Bank lost 0.49 percent, Siam Concrete declined 1.32 percent, Thai Oil slid 0.47 percent, TTB Bank collected 0.56 percent and True Corporation, Bangkok Dusit Medical and Bangkok Expressway were unchanged.

The Dow surged 742.76 points or 1.85 percent to finish at a record 40,945.48, while the NASDAQ added 36.77 points or 0.20 percent to close at 18,509.34 and the S&P 500 rose 35.98 points or 0.64 percent to end at 5,667.20 - also a record.

The strength on Wall Street reflected positive earnings news from the likes of UnitedHealth (UNH), Bank of America (BAC) and Morgan Stanley (MS).

Traders also reacted positively to the latest U.S. economic news, including a Commerce Department report showing U.S. retail sales came in unchanged in June. The Labor Department also released a report showing import prices in the U.S. were unexpectedly flat last month while export prices slid 0.5 percent.

Gold stocks also saw significant strength amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.4 percent. The index reached a more than two-year closing high.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, extending losses to a third straight session amid concerns about the outlook for demand and a slightly stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August sank $1.15 or 1.4 percent at $80.76 a barrel.